NEW RELEASE – No Way to Start a War

Posted on October 20, 2013 by BR

NWTSAW cover smallThe Amazon page for No Way to Start a War is up.  The Publish button for Nook was pushed at the same time, as promised, but Barnes and Noble may take 24 hours to get the book up.  Thanks, everyone, for waiting patiently.

I think I am more nervous about this book than the last.  Part of it is simply the old saying that “ignorance is bliss.”  I didn’t know what I was getting into when I published This Corner of the Universe.  I’d just written a story I wanted to share.  This time around that’s still true, and my plans for Heskan are only growing, but now I feel the pressure of not wanting to disappoint the people who liked the first book.  I don’t think anyone has reported a typo in TCOTU yet, and given that I’m asking people for a few dollars, I want to hit that bar every time.  Two hours before hitting the Publish button, we found that Lt. Garcia was “Lt. Gracia” one time in 87,000 words.  I shudder that there’s still a mistake in the manuscript somewhere.

Whether or not someone likes the story is subjective, and I know you can’t please everyone.  This is the other part I’m nervous about, because I never intend to write the same book twice.  The single-ship isolation of Anelace in one star system is replaced in NWTSAW with fleets of ships, multiple star systems, and your first real experiences with the Hollarans.  You’ll also get a sense of where Book 3 is going at the end of Book 2, and how different it will be as well.

I appreciate everyone’s support, comments, and reviews, and I hope you keep them coming!

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If You’re Early, You’re On Time…

Posted on October 12, 2013 by BR

We accomplished a massive “final” editing push over the last week, so much so that there’s time to run through No Way To Start a War just once more.  It’s amazing the tiny mistakes I still run across.  Most recently, I discovered that I cheated PO2 Pruette out of a spaceman in his LAZ weapons section.  As a former AF officer, being shorted an airman would’ve had me really ticked.  Sorry, Tyler!

The good news is, I think I’m long past the process where I find “game-breaking” errors (like when editing This Corner of the Universe, I found Selvaggio broke her leg and then, in the next scene, was running back to her station… really glad I caught that!).  I’m trying my best to offer a professional-grade story and editing is a large part of that.

So, when can you expect Book 2 out?  Well, the goal has always been October.  I will meet that goal.  I originally thought it would be late October although I wanted to avoid an Oct 31 release because that’s lame.  I think I could be ready to press the Publish button on Amazon and Barnes and Noble around the 21st.  The exact day is up to my wife (who helps me tons with advertising, etc.) but we’re about 9 days away.

I hope you like the story.  I’ve posted quite a bit how the feel of the second book is different, so that has me on edge.  A couple beta-readers have told me this is my “Empire Strikes Back” (but -spoiler alert- Durmont is NOT Heskan’s father).  Considering that “Empire” is often regarded as the best movie in the Star Wars series, I hope that’s a good omen.  There are definitely two more books coming in the This Corner of the Universe series, probably three (I always envisioned this story taking me 5 books to tell).  I think you’ll be able to see where Book 3 is headed at the end of Book 2, although a major theme I have seeded in the first and second books comes into fruition in Book 3 that may not be apparent during Book 2’s conclusion.  The hints are there but certainly not the entire picture.

That’s all; it’s time to get back to work.  Thank you again for investing some of your free time in the TCOTU story.  I’m amazed at how helpful you guys have been with nice comments on Amazon and B&N, not to mention personal comments sent to this website.  It’s incredibly rewarding to hear from everyone.  I’m not sure if I will update this blog again until right near the publish date… probably the next entry will announce the release of the book.  Cheers!

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Introducing BRS Kite

Posted on October 6, 2013 by BR

I am very excited to reveal the artwork for Heskan’s new command in No Way to Start a War, BRS Kite:

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

This beautiful ship is the creation of Mr. Joachim Sverd.  His creativity and talent simple blow my mind.  If you look at any of his work, I think you’ll more than agree, and you can check them out on his Facebook page and Deviantart page.

I have been a fan of Mr. Sverd’s work for over two years now.  In fact, his creative talent has served as inspiration to the TCOTU series since I first put pen to paper.  When I was writing the second novel, it was his artwork that I was envisioning when I wrote about the Brevic escort ships.  I was thrilled when he granted me permission to use the above image for BRS Kite.  I added the arrows and labels to show where I imagined the various systems of BRS Kite that come into play in No Way to Start a War.

Once again, a HUGE thank-you to Mr. Sverd for his support and generous permission to use the image.

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